Greece is a country for young people. How else could a country which has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and more than 300 days of sunshine per year be?
The conservative majority of young people in Greece live with their parents while still young (adolescence, post-adolescence) while when older cohabitation is a frequent occurrence. In surveys on this matter which have been carried out, the conservative majority of young people stated that they have very good relations with both parents, while mentioning that their parents frequently ask their opinion on important family issues. Despite this, one could not go so far as to say that there is a relationship of particular dependence on both parents or in particular on one of them (as for example the love of Italians, and in particular Italian men for their mothers). In Greece things seem to be more balanced: relations between parents and children in the majority of cases are not conflicting but nor are the intense emotional dependence phenomena. Thus the expected withdrawal of young people from their parents home takes place at a reasonable age.
As a rule, relations between young people and teachers are likewise harmonic since the largest majority of them either consider them as friends or have a stance of favourable neutrality towards them. On the same wavelength, young workers treat their employers in a friendly way and only a few believe that they are treated unfairly or highhandedly at work.
Studies and education in general were and continue to be one of the greatest values in Greek society. Of course, one must read this in conjunction with the opportunity provided by studies for changing one’s environment, distancing oneself from the family home and becoming independent from one's parents (and their often time annoying supervision). Moving from one town to another for studies is something very common in Greece. It is also very common in Greece for older people to reminisce about their student years as the best years of their lives, something which to a large extent is probably true. Of course, as a rule, it is parents who guarantee the ‘best’ part of these years in financial terms, since bank loans for studies, although they do exist, are not very common.
Of course, there are many young people in Greece who prefer to immediately start their professional career immediately after high school. At this point, it should be noted that military service is compulsory for men in Greece for a period of time. However, it is not as difficult as it may sound…
Young people in Greece are particularly extrovert and social. The basic form of sociability is the group of friends. Usually consisting of many people, groups of friends are the basic field of development of all interpersonal relations. Greeks are intensely emotional and expressive people (for this reason the joy of meeting someone from a familiar environment in the same place is expressed with two kisses - an expression of intense physical contact for other people, but absolutely acceptable and part of daily life for the Greeks). Friends are exceptionally important for Greeks and particularly so for young people. Some basic traditional values, which are mainly moral in character, govern perceptions that young people have about their friends. The most important values in this relationship are honesty, warmth and love, while little value is attached to the socio-economic status of friends or their political persuasion.
Greece is one of those countries where today a major debate on the relationship between young people and politics and their participation in public affairs in general is going on. On occasions young people have been accused in public of political cynicism and indifference, but that is probably an easy and uncritical accusation. The views of young people in Greece about politicians are not negative (in particular, according to surveys, 56% of young people in Greece have a positive or quite positive view of politicians). However, their participation in gatherings, protests and demonstrations differs depending on their age group. Teenagers, to a large extent, are indifferent while young people slightly older acknowledge that these actions are an essential form of struggle. Of course, the majority of young people have a positive stance to these forms of expressing political wishes. Just as there seems to be a distance between young people and central power, on the other hand there is a show of optimism about the institution of local government. Young people consider that the main issues which local governments can and should intervene in are cultural activities at a local level, cleanliness, public transport and creation of leisure parks and sports centres.
During the 1990s Greece as the country experienced significant change for which it probably was not completely ready in terms of social structures and perceptions: from a country sending out migrants it was converted into a country receiving massive numbers of immigrants. The speed with which this change occurred did not allow public opinion time to process it, with the result that perceptions betraying surprise and insecurity were expressed for some period of time. This situation has balanced out now to a large extent and Greek society is slowly developing the mechanisms for integrating and accepting immigrants into the country. Young people are the main part of the population who support a multicultural, open society, however, some expressions of worry relating to the relationship between the number of migrants and the level of unemployment can still be traced. Despite this, young people in Greece are that dynamic part of the population which supports the acceptance of differentness and the rational and functional integration of all people choosing Greece as their homeland.
Young Greek people have a positive and calm stance towards the European Union: they recognize that there are pros and cons in belonging to Europe. Of course, they have absolutely no doubt that accession to the European Union was a main element in the economic and social development of Greece. However, on the other hand, they acknowledge that in the European Union influence is not equally balanced between the member states, and in this sense Greece is not among those countries with a great deal of influence. Nonetheless, the majority of the population presents itself as European citizens, without disregarding their Greek identity. The largest part of young people in Greece today have personal experience from some of the member states of the European Union while tourism in Greece has contributed to the country being converted during summertime into a meeting point for young people from all over Europe, and further afield. Moreover, as of 1-1-2002, the euphoria from use of the Euro as the common currency which spread throughout all countries of the Euro Area, led naturally enough by young people to increase support since they rapidly became familiar with use of the new currency.
Young people in Greece are open to information from the mass media. The main means of entertainment and information for them is the radio which is the par excellence youth mass media in Greece according to surveys which have been carried out. Of course, no one can say that television is overlooked since most young people state that they watch television daily, with a preference for films. The largest part of the reading public of magazines in Greece consists of young people and it is true that there are a great number of magazines in circulation aimed at the young reading public. Just as in the rest of the world, young people are also the main users of the Internet, a public which is dynamic and constantly expanding.
The data above is based on following surveys (all in Greek)
- “ The identity, particular characteristics and needs of young people in the Prefecture of Thessaloniki”: Research group: ?. Teperoglou, D. Balourdos, G. Myrizakis, M. Tzortzoglou for the National Centre for Social Research, 1999
- “Free time for young people: leisure and sporting activities”, G. Myrizakis, for the National Centre for Social Research, 1997
- “Young people: How time is spent - interpersonal relations”, Research group: O. Gardiki, C. Kelperis, A. Mouriki, G. Myrizakis, T. Paradellis, A. Teperoglou
